Weird But True
Here’s the clue: Every day in this town, a hanged man proclaims his innocence in the only way a dead man can. Since 1877, his handprint on his cell wall has resisted cleaning, repainting, and even re-plastering.
Consumers who correctly answered that question were in line to reap a grand prize of $25,000 in a Budget Rent A Car System, Inc. contest that last month tempted curious customers to follow clues to identify some of the nation’s weirdest and most unusual destinations.
The Up Your Budget promotion tied with Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran, the founders and publishers of Weird U.S., a travel guide to unique and mysterious places, to offer the clues in a blog format at UpYourBudget.com. The two traveled on a road trip to some of the weirdest spots in America, and posted three video clues to their whereabouts each day.
Players competed by guessing the duos final destinations and how many total miles it took to get there. The first player with the closest guess to the exact mileage for the total weird trip of the week won a grand prize of $25,000. Second-place winners got $10,000 and third-place winners received $5,000.
“Part of Budget’s growth marketing strategy is to utilize [blogs] to grow presence with value renters and stimulate brand buzz,” says Melissa Lynch, Budget director of marketing. “Through this promotion, we can really get people talking and engaged with the brand.”
Visitors to the blog could also post their own ideas for the weirdest spots in the country. Each week one of the entrants of the winning spot received an autographed copy of a travel guide compiled by Sceurman and Moran.
“Our target audience is the younger end of the car rental market,” Lynch said. “Our goal is to engage budget minded consumers with an entertaining and informative game using alternative media, which in turn allows the Budget brand to be part of the conversation and bond with customers and potential customers in a powerful way.”
The campaign was promoted via ad buys on blogs and through p.r. efforts.
The Budget marketing team handled with Philadelphia-based Impax Marketing Group and Boston-based Design4Results.
